The New Singer
by Punch A Fish In The Face
Summary: DJ P0n-3 is the manager of the band Friendship is Magic. Twilight will be the band's new singer, Rainbow and AJ will be on guitar, Rarity the pianist, Pinkie on drums, and Fluttershy on bass. Though they may each be talented, each member of the Mane 6 still struggles through personal issues that may affect their performance. Can Twilight help her new family with their problems?
1. Chapter 1

A/N  
MLP: FIM is a very music-focused show. Winter Wrap-Up, Rarity's Dress episode, Rainbow's Pets episode, Pinkie's Cranky Doodle Donkey episode, etc. So, you'd expect some music-related fanart and fanfic, right? Well… Most I could find were Scratchtavia-centric (I like the pairing, but I think it's a bit overused) or Ska bands. Nothing against Ska fans, but I'm not the biggest fan (I do like Sublime and Lily Allen, though). I'm more into rock, punk, grunge, metal, other stuff like that. So, what to do about a Mane 6-related music-based story with my tastes? Oh, write a story about it! So I thought if I have a story, how about some plot for drama and conflict? Okay, let's see, Twilight- naivety because she's new, Rainbow Dash- uncontrolled party drinking and a huge ego, Rarity- very vain and a huge ego, Fluttershy- too shy, meek, and timid, Pinkie- too hung up on fun and not serious enough, and Applejack- too serious when it comes to business and works a bit too hard to have fun (I think that if she didn't have to work at a farm, and was free to choose a career path, she'd be a blues and country singer, so I gave her an opposite problem from Pinkie Pie). All while being in a rock band setting. Sound fun?  
Oh, and Vinyl Scratch is their manager (I casted Maryke Hendrikse, voice of Gilda, Spitfire, or for you anime fans, Revy from the English dub of Black Lagoon). Octavia runs the orchestra for the strings parts of the songs. Think of the band as a cross between Evanescence and Seether- like, the songs _Going Under, FMLYHM, _and _Broken feat Amy Lee_,and that's the general sound from them. It's generally piano-focused with a touch of melody and a touch of heaviness. Not to say that they made the songs, because they aren't a cover band, even though they play occasional covers… Ah, I'm rambling. Anyways, here's the story. Please R&R on the story, not on whatever lyrics I throw together.  
Also, they are NOT HUMAN. They are still ponies, just in an AU.  
End A/N

/x/x/x/

"_Wow. I'm in Las Pegasus. Never in my life had I ever thought I would wind up here. Ooh, I'm so excited! Alright, first things first. Meet up with Mrs. Scratch, on my way. Then I need to find a hotel room, unpack, then go back to the studio and introduce myself. Wait, should I get the hotel room first? No, no, I already made the list. I'll go to the studio first… Hmm. Where is the studio?"_

Twilight Sparkle is this pony's name. She grew up in the city of Canterlot, where she had discovered two talents. One had been in magic, which she'd gained her cutie mark for, and the other had been singing. After having been taken in by Princess Celestia herself, Twilight never told the Princess that she'd also wanted to sing.

Twilight always sang to herself when the Princess was out of earshot, so she could be reminded that she still was able, and that seemed like it would be enough to keep herself steered on the path down magic. For a while, it seemed to work… for the most part.

Fortunately, fate was with Twilight upon a visit from her brother, Shining Armor. Shining didn't know that Celestia had no idea that Twilight could sing, and so he asked a question that would change Twilight's life from then on. He said, "So Twilight, are you in a band yet? You've had to have had at least one request by now!" He said this in front of the Princess herself. Twilight, however, said no, and the Princess asked Shining if she could borrow his sister for a moment.

Celestia asked Twilight what Shining had meant by that. So, the younger pony inhaled, and prepared to tell her teacher what she truly wanted to do with her life- to sing in front of a crowd, and let her voice be heard.

Celestia looked off into the setting sun and pondered this for a moment. A moment became a minute, and one minute became several. Several minutes passed, and Twilight held her breath the entire time. Which was possible, because her lungs were that strong. Eventually, the Princess came to a decision.

"Let's find you a vocal trainer."

/x/x/x/

Twilight checked the business card that had been issued to her by the Princess. Yes, this was the correct address. The unicorn took a deep breath, and pushed open the glass door… which brought her into the room leading to the next set of doors before finally entering the studio itself. Twilight sheepishly opened the next door without hesitation- she'd already wasted the deep-breath-for-drama effect.

Inside, Twilight's senses were awakened. The smell of vinyl, the soft sound of some classical music, Beet-hoof-en's 9th, the sight of red-painted walls covered in gold records and musical memorabilia, the feeling of air conditioning- which was quite welcoming to Twilight- and the taste of… well, there wasn't really a taste…

"I've never seen you 'round here before- you must be new." A voice said from behind Twilight. She whirled around to see a fellow unicorn like herself, only this one had white fur, a two-toned blue mane, and she was wearing black-framed glasses with opaque two-toned purple lenses. Twilight saw this pony before- she was playing at Shining Armor's wedding. DJ P0n-3 was her name? She continued to talk.

"My name's Scratch; Vinyl Scratch. Stage name's Pon Three. I heard a pony was comin' in for tryouts. That would be you?"

_Oh my CELESTIA, DJ P0n-3 is Vinyl Scratch! OMC, I can't believe she's right here! Three Stalls Down, the Beastie Colts, Red Hot Filly Peppers, FiveBitBack, Ponytera, Pony James Dio, and Ponywood Undead's manager is standing __**right in front of me**__! Talking to me! Okay Twilight, calm down, this is a business meeting. Introduce yourself, give her a hoofshake!_

"My name's Twilight Sparkle." She put her hoof out towards Scratch. "I'm here to try out for Friendship is Magic, the band who was looking for another singer."

"Ah, I remember now." Vinyl tapped Twilight's hoof with her own. "Princess Celestia's kid, right?"

"What? Oh, no, the Princess isn't my mother, she's just my magic teacher! I mean, she's more than my magic teacher, but I'm not her daughter, I'm sorry if I made it seem like I was coming across as mmf mmrmm flmm… hmm?"

Twilight looked down to see a white hoof in her mouth, and she followed it to the owner.

"I don't mean _that_ kind of kid, I mean it as a term of endearment. Y'know, like when you say 'You did good, kid.' Not like a parent says to their kids." She took her hoof out of Twilight's mouth. "Number one rule here you need to learn is to never take what I say literally."

Twilight replied with a shaky "…kay…" After all, how should you react when another pony sticks her hoof in your mouth! Twilight wiped her mouth, and tasted… is that vinyl? Ah, Scratch must be a DJ or something.

"C'mon, Twi." Vinyl turned and headed for a set of doors. "The band's this way. They'd like to meet you and see what you've got."

The lavender pony followed after the white one through the doors. Her heart was beating faster, it seemed, with every step she took. Nervous energy flowed through her body- if she failed this, she could always try out for another band. So it wasn't about if she failed. Twilight was more worried about what would happen if she was accepted in- it would mean a whole different lifestyle than the one she was used to! A complete 180. Well, give or take a few degrees, but still, it was radically different than the life that Princess Celestia gave her as a student of magic.

Vinyl finally arrived at the last door. She rested a hoof on the bar handle that, when pushed down, would reveal the inner sanctum of the building: the recording studio. She turned to Twilight and lifted her glasses, revealing the red irises hidden below. "You should open the door."

"Oh… thank you." Vinyl backed away, and Twilight stepped forward. She rested a hoof on the handle. After a moment to steel herself, Twilight pushed the door open.

/x/x/x/

A/N  
Hahaha, cliffhanger ending.  
The next few chapters will be backstory for the other members of the Mane 6. Spike may or may not come into the story, that depends on the reader's yay or nay. Basically, you guys decide whether Spike comes in or not.  
Reviews and Comments will dictate pairings. So guess away: I might change it if people want it enough.  
Three Stalls Down is Three Doors Down. The Beastie Colts are The Beastie Boys. Red Hot Filly Peppers are the Red Hot Chili Peppers. FiveBitBack is Nickelback. Ponytera is Pantera. Pony James Dio is the ponified Ronnie James Dio, from Rainbow and Dio. Ponywood Undead is Hollywood Undead. Art challenges for any of you to take up.  
End A/N


	2. Chapter 2

A/N  
Chapter 2. The Rainbow Dash chapter. If you don't know jack about playing the guitar, well, good luck to you for the first few paragraphs. Also, don't ask why ponies can play guitar with hooves, because Vinyl's a DJ, Octavia's a cellist, and Pinkie works in a bakery. Bend the rules of reality a little, it's fiction.  
End A/N

/x/x/x/

In the Recording Studio, Rainbow Dash POV

/x/x/x/

'… _Kay, here's the bridge. Stutter the G chord, Stutter the low-string A chord, Hit the low-string B chord once- hoof mute. C-sharp chord, B chord, A chord, open E chord with B flat and E flat. Bridge is done, now the solo._

_Upper strings, go. Pentatonic falls steadily down the strings. Hitting the edge of the octave, and… Upper registers. No more Pentatonics, now to Aeolic rises. Hitting the edge, stop. Umm… no hesitation, High E-B chord, now high D-A chord, and hoof mute._

_Now, Tremelo the upper strings, hitting an arpeggio alternating the opens, and head down to the bottom. Now, Stutter the G chord, Hit the low-string A chord, Stutter the low-string B chord. Down to G, now, keep going, I'm at the last verse.'_

"And I'm sorry to say,  
But I cannot stay,  
I gotta, gotta, gotta go away.

I'm sorry I died,  
Here by your side,  
Now let out your feelings that were bottled up inside.

Don't wipe your eyes,  
It's okay to cry,  
Please don't make more stupid lies.

Watch after the kids,  
close my eyelids,  
I wanted… I… Aw, damn it. That sounds stupid. Stop recording!"

Rainbow Dash stopped the strings. She moved the headphones off her head and turned to her song book. She scribbled out the last lines and shut the notebook. The pegasus retracted her wings so she could take the strap to the guitar off more easily. She set the guitar down on its stand and headed for the door.

When she opened it, her friend Pinkie, who had been recording earlier, was standing there.

"Rainbow, what's wrong? Did you not like it?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just gonna change the last bit a little, after I go flying for a little while. It's been ages. Hey, didn't you say you had something later?"

The Earth pony gasped, and facehoofed. "I totally forgot! I'm supposed to be helping Applejack with the drums! Thanks Rainbow, you're a lifesaver!" and she sped off out the doors to the hallway further inside the building. The Blue pony headed to the doors that led outside.

When she got there, and grabbed the door to pull it open, it was suddenly pushed, and Rainbow felt herself get tangled up with another pony.

"Ahh!" the stranger's voice cried.

"Whoa, Twilight!" Vinyl was in the doorway, and she immediately moved to separate the other two. "Sorry about that, Dash, she's new."

The new girl gasped. "Dash? Rainbow? As in, _Rainbow_ Dash!" Finally, the two were disentangled, and Rainbow got her first glimpse of the new pony. Light purple fur, dark blue mane with streaks of pink and purple. Fangirl eyes. "Oh my gosh, it IS you! I never realized you were- I'm so sorry for crashing into you!"

Rainbow brushed herself off. "You're fine. Just… watch out next time." She turned her attention to her manager. "Scratch, who's this? Intern?"

"Actually," the white unicorn replied, moving her glasses up into her mane. "Pending your approval, she'll be the band's newest member."

"I'd heard that after your stint with Pony James Dio, you'd gone into another band, but I never made the connection that you could be the 'Rainbow D' listed as the lead guitarist. I'm stupid- Oh, I'm so happy that I'll be performing with you!"

"Whoa," Rainbow stopped the eager fan. "Nopony said you were in yet. But… I guess we'll find out later." She held out her hoof. "Plus, it's always nice to meet a fan from my older work."

Twilight hesitated for a moment. This wasn't a hoofshake gesture. It looked almost like- oh! Twilight remembered what Vinyl had done earlier, so Twilight copied the movement, and tapped Rainbow's hoof with her own.

"So, what's your name?"

"I'm Twilight. Twilight Sparkle."

"Nice to meet you, Twilight. Where you from?"

"Canterlot."

Rainbow's eyes widened. Canterlot? Snob central? She had a fan from _Canterlot_!

"Hmm. Well, nice to meet you, Twilight from Canterlot. I'll see you later at your talent exhibition. Scratch, when is that?"

"Hmm…" Vinyl started thinking about that. "It depends on how long it takes the others to be ready. Pie's teaching Apple the drums, those sessions usually take a half hour before they either get bored or annoyed, respectively. 'Shy can be ready any time. But Rarity… well, knowing how long she takes to get ready for _anything_, I'd say you've got an hour or so."

"Nice! Well, if you need me, I'll have my head in the clouds… literally. Do me a favor and don't need me. Twilight," she looked away from the recording studio at her name. "I'll see you in about an hour." And Rainbow left out the doors Twilight and Vinyl had just come in through.

A/N  
Short chapter, I know. Sorry.  
End A/N

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A/N  
Psyche! There's still more.  
End A/N

"I never expected that'd be the way you… well, 'run into' your first band member."

Twilight laughed at Vinyl's joke. "Yeah, I never thought it would be, either."

The two unicorns continued to walk down the hallway. Scratch was giving Twilight the general tour- it wasn't often that new pony came to the studio, so when they did, Vinyl gave the full tour.

"This is the orchestra room. If you look through the window there, you'll see 'Tavi there on the cello, leading all the others for the strings parts. She's even got her own pieces she composed herself. It ain't my cup of tea, but everypony's got their tastes."

Twilight looked through the circle of glass on the door, and saw what looked like several hundred ponies all on different string and wind instruments.

"Wow…"

"It sure is something, right?"

"This is _really_ good soundproof glass!"

Vinyl facehoofed.

/x/x/x/

"And this, Twilight, is the member's wing. We've got rooms for the bands who come back here to Las Pegasus when they're done touring. But, F.I.M. is the only one that, well, returns here regularly. Now, on the right is Rainbow Dash's room, and to the left is Applejack. AJ's out right now, with Pie. This next door is Pinkie's, and over here is Fluttershy's. I'm going in to tell her you're here. Now, don't get offended if she's a little, well, shy. She's not good with new ponies."

Vinyl knocked on the door. "Hey 'Shy, it's Scratch. New kid's here, you wanna meet her?"

The door opened a crack. Twilight could tell it was dark in the room, because no light came through. The door opened just enough for a pony to squeeze through, and one did. She was a pegasus with a yellow coat, and had a pink mane that covered her right eye.

"Hi, Vinyl. Angel's sleeping right now, so can you please keep it down? I mean, if you don't mind. He's just really picky about when he goes to bed-"

Vinyl held up a hoof to silence her. In a whisper, she said "Sorry, I didn't realize. Anyways, here she is. Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight held out a hoof. "Hi, Fluttershy." She whispered. "You play bass, right?"

The yellow pony shook Twilight's hoof. She mumbled something unintelligible. Twilight asked her, "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What'd you say?"

Fluttershy mumbled something unintelligible again, this time quieter.

Vinyl stepped in and said "Yes, 'Shy here is the bassist."

"Okay." Twilight realized Vinyl wasn't kidding when she said Fluttershy was shy. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Fluttershy."

She said nothing; she only gulped and continued looking down.

"Well," Vinyl said. "I'm taking Twilight around to meet the other members. She already met Dash, and we're going to see the other three. We should be ready in about an hour, so we'll see you then, okay?"

Fluttershy nodded, but otherwise remained motionless.

"All right, take it easy."

Vinyl and Twilight continued down the hallway. They stayed in relative silence until they turned the corner, where Vinyl stopped. When Twilight inquired as to why, Vinyl cut her off.

"She had a rough time as a foal in flight camp. She could never really fly as fast as the others, and they were absolutely relentless about it. Dash was, like, her only friend."

"Rainbow Dash knew Fluttershy when they were young?"

"Yeah. They're old friends. When they got out of flight camp, they parted ways, but still wrote each other. Rainbow pursued her dreams of either joining the Wonderbolts, or a band. Fluttershy lived in Ponyville for a while in a cottage with some animals."

"Isn't Ponyville that one small town?"

"Yes, it is, but don't call it a small town in front of AJ. Anyways, Fluttershy heard from Rainbow that her first big concert with Dio was coming up here in Las Pegasus. So, she came up here and bought a ticket. Dash managed to get her a VIP pass in when there were, well, issues. But, they never told me, and I wouldn't tell you what happened even if I knew, because it seems to be a touchy subject for them."

By now, Vinyl and Twilight had started walking again.

"Anyways, Fluttershy fell in love with the music. She didn't really wanna go back home, at least, not for a while. So, she wrote home and asked a few people to take care of the animals for a while, while she stayed with Dash. During that time, she learned how to play the bass guitar. I mean, you're surrounded by musicians, you're gonna learn a thing or two."

"I know what you mean. That's how I felt when the Princess had me learn how to sing from professionals."

"Mmhmm. Well, after the touring was all over and done with, Fluttershy walked away having learned how to play an instrument. She went home while Dash went and did more with Dio. Unfortunately, learning how to play bass did nothing about her shyness."

They came to the end of yet another hallway, this one with heavy doors like the ones heading into the recording studio.

"So Vinyl," Twilight asked. "How did she end up here?"

She only smiled in reply. "That would be a question for these two. Hey, don't run into anypony else when you open the door this time!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes.

"Ha. Ha."

/x/x/x/

A/N  
Next chapter introduces the final members of the Mane 6. It also patches up a few holes of backstory before finally moving on into the main part of the story.  
If you don't know who Pony James Dio is, well, his source Ronnie James Dio created the \m/ gesture. Dio was the guy who invented rock's devil horns, which were actually based off of a ward used to scare witched away. Anyways, the reason I used him was because his first band was Rainbow. Seriously. What better to use than that for Rainbow Dash?  
If you see any plot holes, please point them out so I can fix them. I'm doing my best to keep it clear of errors.  
End A/N

Note: this chart below is for my personal use to copy-and-paste into chapters where I need this. It is no part of the story, just the frets on a guitar.

E F F# G Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E  
B C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B  
G Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G  
D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B C C# D  
A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A  
E F F# G Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E

D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B C C# D  
A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A  
F F# G Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F  
C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B C  
G Ab A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G  
C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab A Bb B C


End file.
